Tuesday, April 6, 2010

The first time Melanie Ross meets April Hall, she's not sure they have anything in common. But she soon discovers that they both love anything to do with ancient Egypt. When they stumble upon a deserted storage yard behind A-Z Antiques and Curio Shop, Melanie and April decide it's the perfect spot for the Egypt Game.
Before long, there are six Egyptians instead of two. After school and on weekends they all meet to wear costumes, hold ceremonies, and work on their secret code.
Everyone thinks it's just a game, until strange things begin happening to the players. And they began to think the Egypt Game has gone too far.

This book is a mix of mystery, imaginary fantasy, and history. Usually, those topics don't go well together in a story, but this author made them work like it was the easiest pair to combine! This book was both educational and fun, and made me want to start my own game out in the yard, but no, that wears off after awhile when we learned about Egypt in school. Then since i learned about it every day, my brain couldn't cope anymore when I got home.
My favorite character was April Hall, she was such an interesting person in both style and character. She never cared what other people thought of her. I also loved this book because it took place in
San Francisco, CA, that is where I was born! So if you are up for some fake eyelashes, box monsters, and a bowling pin crowns, then read The Egypt Game.

Ingrid is in the wrong place at the wrong time. Or at least her shoes are. And getting them back will mean getting tangled up in a murder investigation as complicated as the mysteries solved by her idol, Sherlock Holmes. With soccer practice, schoolwork, and the lead role in her town's production of Alice In Wonderland, Ingrid is swamped. But as things in Echo Falls keep getting curiouser and curiouser, Ingrid realizes she must solve the murder on her own-before it's too late.

This book was really good, with quirky romance, the idolizing of an old detective, and a twist on Alice In Wonderland. But in the book, when Ingrid finally finds out the truth about the murder, the ending is a little muddled. You know who the criminal is, but you don't know exactly how the whole crime came to be, what the murderer exactly did. Which is a big part in most mysteries, also about half way through the book, you already knew who the murderer was, it wasn't a shock. Sometimes, the characters would go on, and on, until the dialogue of each character, was more of a monologue. Other than that, the story had a great mystery and the author made you hate the bad characters, and love the good guys. So if your looking for a good mystery, I recommend this one.

Inside the Castertown MegaMall, the biggest mall in the world, live the night children-runaways, abandoned kids, kids who got lost and were never found. They only come out at night, after all the shoppers are gone.
When Julie Devereaux visits the mall after the mysterious disappearance of her aunt, she becomes a pawn in the war between two gangs of night children: the Castertown Crazies, led by the stalwart Tick Stiles, and the Dingos, whose leader is the batty Burt Arno.
What the night children don't realize is that the megalomaniacal owner of the MegaMall, billionaire Amos Zozz, knows all about them. To him, they are vermin- "rats" living in his beautiful mall-that he plans to exterminate. And Julie, Tick, Burt and the rest of the night children must join forces if they want to survive.

This book was exceptional (every time I do a new review I have to come up with a new word to describe the book). I really liked how Kit Reed went through all the different perspectives of the situation, from Amos Zozz (the evil dude) to Julie Devereaux (the main character). Most authors cannot switch from perspective, to perspective without getting something mixed up, (minus Kit Reed i'm happy to say). Also, I love all the names! They are so weird and interesting at the same time, sometimes when I am bored in class or something I start thinking about what interesting names I give my kids when i'm older. The Night Children opened up a whole new selection for me.

Ninth grader Jack Perdu spends most of his time alone, with his nose buried in a book. But one winter evening, a near-fatal accident changes Jack's life forever.
His father sends him to see a mysterious doctor in New York City-Where Jack hasn't been since his mother died there eight years ago. In Grand Central Terminal, he meets Euri, a girl who offers to show him the train station's hidden places-the ones only true urban explorers really know about. Eight flights below the station, however, Jack discovers more than just hidden tracks and mysterious staircases. He has stumbled upon New York's ghostly underworld. This, Jack believes, is his chance to see his mother again. But as secrets about Euri's past are revealed. So are the true reasons for Jack's visit to the underworld.

This book is excellent. I really like how Katherine Marsh tied in some of the Greek myths from ancient times. Each character was unique and different, and I enjoyed every page. Doing these kind of discovery books is difficult. When authors write these kinds of books, they need to make sure that the descriptions for the characters discovery aren't too short, or too long. They need to make sure as well that the characters reaction isn't too cheesy. It is a very difficult topic to get published and I respect that, it is one of the reasons I enjoy this genre so much.